Egypt
Egypt is a country in North Africa. Cairo is the capital and largest city. Being Africa's most influential country in various fields throughout history, Egypt was the leading African nation in establishing a big number of African sports associations and organisations. On the same track, amateur Egyptian ice hockey players are working hard since the year 2002 to establish some outstanding ice hockey capabilities for Egypt and its continent in order to inaugurate the sport of ice hockey in Africa. Interestingly, as confirmed by archaeologists, the drawing at the tombs of Beni Hassan in Minya Governorate in central Egypt shows that Ancient Egypt was the cradle of the prototype of field hockey which is considered to be a closely related sport of ice hockey. Egypt currently has 11 ice rinks in 6 cities in five different governorates. Out of those 11, there are 3 ice rinks in the capital city, Cairo, in addition to other 3 in Sharm el-Sheikh, 2 in the 6th of October City, as well as 1 rink in Hurghada, 1 in Tanta, and another one in Borg El Arab. The biggest of those ice rinks is found in Sun City Mall in east Cairo that has a surface area of only 300 m2. Seven of the Egyptian rinks have ice grounds while 4 are wax rinks. Egyptian ice hockey teams Starting from 2002, Maadi neighbourhood in south Cairo gained prominence in Egyptian ice hockey being the headquarter of Egypt's first ice hockey team which is named Anubis. This Egyptian amateur ice hockey team plays mainly in "Ice Planet Rink" in Maadi Family Land mall. Official recognition As of 2015, the administration of Anubis Team, Egypt's first ice hockey team, is working on establishing and launching the Egyptian Ice Hockey Federation in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports. Anubis is also working with some Egyptian sports clubs and businessmen to build Egypt's first ice hockey rink with the standard international measurements of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Regional pioneering Amateur Egyptian ice hockey players and Anubis Team are interested in finding four ice hockey federations for Africa, the Mediterranean Countries, North Africa and the Muslim World in cooperation with the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF). They are cooperating with the Moroccan Ice Hockey Association to organise North Africa's first ice hockey tournament for Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Egyptian outdoor ice rinks Some Egyptian towns are climatologically qualified to host outdoor natural ice rinks in winter nights because of their freezing temperatures during the months of winter season. Some of these towns are Saint Catherine city of South Sinai province, Nekhel city in Central Sinai province, Sidi Barrani city of the western Mediterranean coast of Egypt, Ain Khudra village of South Sinai province, Kafr Sabir village of the western Mediterranean coast of Egypt, Feiran town of South Sinai province, as well as El Tarfa, El Heswah and El Tamd villages in South Sinai province. Egyptian ice hockey tournaments An Egyptian Ice Hockey Federation is still under construction, and so far there isn't a national league in Egypt. However in 2012, Anubis team organised an amateur national tournament for 8 Egyptian amateur teams that were formed of Anubis players. The tournament took place in Genena Mall Rink, one of Cairo's 3 ice rinks. It was played during the holy month of Ramadan and gained some minor printed media coverage being a successful ice hockey start.Category:Countries